


Back to the Drawing Board

by Gantzgun_74_Codex_Holder



Category: Mighty No. 9 (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, Family History, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24565201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gantzgun_74_Codex_Holder/pseuds/Gantzgun_74_Codex_Holder
Summary: When Beck was created, he was to be the pinnacle of everything that came before him... So how exactly did things change when he was first activated? How did he first meet the other Mighty Numbers? How did they become as close as they are now? A story of a family welcoming in their newest brother, with a variety of different responses.
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue; Miracle Child

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of practice to get back into the habit of writing more regularly.
> 
> However it's also my attempt to write something for Mighty No. 9 that reflects some of it's more positive qualities since lots of people like to trash on the game itself, though not without good reason. In the end, it was the developers fault for being too overly ambitious for their first outing.
> 
> While others might be glad to see it go, I, personally, am sad to know that a sequel is, at least, unlikely. After all, it's not like the game didn't LACK in good story and character ideas, and hopefully I can fairly well illustrate what I mean throughout the course of this series.
> 
> So here's to hoping you enjoy this mini-series featuring Beck and his family as they come to terms with each other's existences and personality quirks!

……… You would think in this future of human convenience and advancement in technology, I would be satisfied with things as they are now… Well… you might be surprised.

As of present, the world has been taken by storm by an immensely revolutionary form of mechanical and electronical advancement known conceptually as ‘Xel’. What is Xel? Jeeze, how to put this….

In living beings, there exists DNA; a system of hard-wired biological coding that creates the bodies of all living things and allows them to grow as they do. DNA can be found everywhere; in the bodies of animals, slowly pushing them to adapt and evolve to their surroundings, in humans to grow their bodies from childhood to adulthood, and in history, where DNA has formed our basis for evolution throughout the ages. Ideas such as birds descending from dinosaurs, humans descending from mammals that once lived in the ocean before adapting to life on land.

Well… That is what Xel is to robotics, to technology as a whole. A step forward. The ability to introduce such an intricate system of complicated coding into everyday machines and tools, such as washing machines, television sets, gaming consoles, cars and even highly complex toys; allow these machines to better cater to people, learn their preferences, better care for those that need care… Or rather, that is how people now understand it.

I however understand it better. I should. It was my…. Father… That created the Xel systems of all modern machinery.

But, I am not here to talk about my father, relic of the past that he is. I’m here to keep a record of my research from this point forward. It has been a long and turbulent number of years under the employ of Sanda Technologies and I have a lot of documentation I need to catch up on.

And what a better time to get started then today? Because today is the day where the culmination of all of my efforts finally comes to fruition. After all of the vital successes and failures both necessary and embarrassing, I’ve finally attained that which I had joined Sanda Technologies to attain. The level of robotics that avoided me more times in one lifetime then I care to count.

… It’s time to wake up, Number 9.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Awakening in this place felt natural. It felt slow and easy. Like he had been sleeping his entire life and now he was awakening for the first time in…. Well… Just the first time.

Was this what was called ‘coming into existence?’ As the robot sat up, he took in his surroundings. The description that came to the mind he just now realized he had was ‘clinically white’; sterile, clear of any distraction or uncertainty. The different variables came in the form of a computer near his table, or at least he recognized it as a computing interface, with about 4 different screens, each of them computing different coding and a control panel on the desk that looked like it had seen frequent use in the past…

He looked down at himself next; a grey body, small but robust with black limbs ending in white hands and grey fingers for his arms and bulky but balanced white boots with blue highlights on the end of his ‘toes’-

Ch-weep! He jumps as data passes by his eyes, almost like he was looking into a visor of some kind briefly and inhibiting his vision. The data was mainly a long stream of numbers and letters; nonsense to the unknowing, but for a robot with advanced mental workings, he recognized it cleanly as Binary. Translated, it spell out this message;

‘Awakening Process complete. Project Synergy is now operational. Beginning archival memory recording…’

And at the end of the message came an odd symbol. The robot didn’t recognize it initially, but after a moment, his mind dug up the meaning behind it and he understood. The symbol was a triangle with each of the three points punctuated by very prominent circles… But while the robot understood the meaning, the significance of the meaning was lost on it… ‘Absorbing Xels, Growing, Evolving?’ What did this mean-?

“Hmmm, appears to be functioning normally now… Though that twitch has me concerned…”

The robot once more JUMPS and turns to his right.

“… There’s that twitch again… How very strange.” The man in the chair on wheels looks the robot over a moment, allowing the robot to get a good look at him as well; green eyes, pale skin, strange looking brown hair poofed up like an afro with points that almost resembled cogs on a gear, wearing an orange shirt and a white lab-coat… However, the robot was somewhat unnerved by the man’s eyes, taking him in impassively, coldly. There was a warmth there, but it was…. Muted. “…. Maybe I should run a diagnostic… Beck. Can you hear me?”

…… Beck-? …. The robot is unable to understand for a moment. The man in the White coat lets out a grunt and looks about ready to move before he notices the robot lifting up his hand and pointing at himself, expression questioning.

“Yes. You.” The man takes a breath, allowing his patience to come back to him before leaning forward to give the robot a look. “I assume that means you can hear and you can understand… But let’s run that diagnostic once again… Beck. Can you hear me?”

….. The robot thought it’s name was Project Synergy…. Wasn’t it? Now it was Beck-? How very confusing…. Still, a request was a request. The robot nods.

“Hmmm. Good. Good. Can you speak?”

…… The robot takes a second to go over all of it’s systems, binary briefly passing in front of it’s eyes (translating out to ‘Activating Vocal receptors, acclimating multi-language program, now with 30 known languages!’), before he lets out his first sound. A vocal exhale…… The man in the white labcoat raises an eyebrow before ‘Beck’ takes a moment to ‘experiment’ with his voice, letting out exhales of differing pitches.

“…. Great. Now I’ll need to adjust that too-“

“W-wait sir!”

The man in the white coat stops once more before turning to look at the robot… “Sorry… I don’t know your name… Um… I can speak sir.”

…….. The scientist raises an eyebrow before taking a deep breath. “Deep breaths.” He mutters to himself. “You wanted this system to be as lifelike as possible…” He cleared his throat before sitting up straight in his chair. “Next time, I would appreciate it if you were more prompt in answering me. Am I understood?”

The Robo-BECK, need to get used to that, nods. “Y-yes sir.”

“Also, it’s not sir.” The man in the white coat corrects. “My name is Professor William White. You may know me as ‘Professor’. Understand?” Beck nods. “As for who I am, I created you. It is because of me that you are alive to disregard my requests.” …. OOOH-!! “So I would like it if you showed me a modicum of respect as well.”

A rather frantic search through his mind and his pre-programmed knowledge allowed Beck to ‘remember’ that one shows respect by bowing, so he’s quick to bow his head as he speaks again. “Y-Yes Professor! Sorry Professor!”

“Good.” The man only nods at this, satisfied.

Beck then watches the man roll his chair over to the desk to start recording data into his computer, fingers rapidly tapping at the control panel and recording details… Once he finishes tapping at the control panel, he pulls out a small device that clicks on with a button and starts floating by his head. It takes Beck a moment to recognize it, but his internal dictionary of modern robotics pulls up it’s specs.

CDN. 273-007 Patla Audio Recorder Model  
Height: 5 inches  
Weight: 2 pounds  
Xel: 78

“Project Synergy audio log open.” Professor White tells the tiny robot causing it to beep. It opens up a screen on it’s tiny chasis, shows White the screen then seems to select something on it. It lets out another Beep. The Professor takes it as a signal. “Project Synergy Audio Log, entry #1, log-date…” He briefly checks his calendar. “June 21st of Calendar year 20XX. The experiment has officially begun. Project Synergy, codename Beck, has awakened and is now recording the world around him. Subject Beck initially showed signs of twitching and technical hiccups, which might suggest either faulty wiring or slow processing speed… The problems were brief, but they appear to have been fixed with a couple diagnostics.”

The professor turns in his chair to look at Beck, whom had been looking at him and turned away awkwardly when his brain reminded him that staring could be considered rude. So the robot instead decides to further take in his surroundings. “However, that isn’t the only oddity in his creation. Even though his vocal programming should be working to perfection, he has a ‘strange stutter’, and he ‘acts…’ timid. I wanted this robot to be as close to human as possible, so both aren’t necessarily strange… But I do wonder if there might be a problem with his programming. This will have to warrant further study for the time being.”

Beck meanwhile didn’t seem to mind being talked about in this manner as he took in the ceiling far above him and the walls decorated only sparsely. It all seemed so… Alien to him.

White noted this and grimaced. “All I can say for sure is that Beck is…. An odd one to be sure. I will need to keep him under close surveillance.” ….. He stops and thinks a moment before nodding to himself turning back to his computer. “With this in mind, I will have to postpone introducing Beck to the other Mighty Numbers until I am certain I isolated whatever issues he might still have and have edited them-”

“Other Mighty Numbers-?” White jumps the tiniest bit before turning to look at Beck, who was giving him an odd look. “What are… Mighty Numbers?”

“…. Beck.” White’s patience briefly deteriorates. “I was in the middle of an audio log, I would appreciate it if you didn’t talk while I am recording. These are my personal journals after all.”

“O-oh… OH-! S-sorry professor-! Um-“ He seems to realize he’s only making White’s case worse before he lowers his voice to a whisper. “S-sorry Professor. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

….. White just lets out a sigh and turns back to his recorder. “More as the project develops. I will need to do extensive system sweeps for this one. End transmission.” The Patla beeps and lowers back down to the table to save the audio. White meanwhile leaves his desk and rolls over to Beck looking him over. “… NOW, you may talk. You had a question?” Honestly, that in itself should have been a curiosity.

“…..” Beck meanwhile cringes a bit and looks down. “Wh-… What are the Mighty Numbers? Why did you refer to them as ‘others-?’” White facepalms a bit but takes a second to catch his breath. “I-is something wrong Professor?”

White raises an eyebrow. “Check your integrated dictionary programming. You should have an entry on the Mighty Numbers there.” White can see Binary passing in Beck’s eyes, allowing him to know the robot was doing just that. “Though while you have that entry pulled up, you should add something to the definition. You are a Mighty Number yourself Beck. Mighty Number 9 to be exact. Before I created you, I created 8 other robots just as advanced as you are.”

…………….. Beck’s eyes widened at this information. “So… The other Mighty Numbers are like me?”

“…. After a fashion. Though that definition isn’t exactly correct in at least one key way.” When he notes Beck looking at him oddly, White sighs and shrugs. “You have… Functions, that the other Mighty Numbers do not have. You are easily the most advanced out of all of them… But we shall cover those details another time, once I have given your system significant amounts of diagnostics to ensure you have no errors.” He rolls his office chair back to his desk and starts typing in more data.

“But… I’ll get to meet the other Mighty Numbers soon right?” Came that question… The one Professor White swears sounds so meaningful… So… Innocent.

…. And the man smiles. “Heh. You will Beck. Soon. For now, just lie back down please and let me run my diagnostics. Make sure you are fully functioning and virus free.”

“Oh! Yes Professor.” And with that, Beck lies back down, letting the machinery plug wires into him and start streaming data to White’s computer…

And as this happens, Beck slowly drifts off, a smile on his face that seems wistful and… Even excited.

How wondrous must these other Mighty Numbers be? Beck could hardly wait to meet them.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Beck had spent a grand total of one minute in the room before he RUNS from Sanda Technologies Employee Lounge screaming his helmeted head off in utter terror.

Dr. Sanda and Professor White meanwhile can only stand at the door, both of them wide-eyed and a bit baffled at what had just occurred.

“Um…. Will…” Came Sanda’s voice, snapping the Professor out of his daze. “.. What just happened-?”

…………………. White meanwhile lets out a loud groan… Suddenly all of those diagnostics made all the sense in the world. “I just introduced Beck to the other Mighty Numbers…”

RRRRRRGH…………………………………

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD…………………..

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to the Drawing Board

A Mighty No 9 fanfic

Prologue; The Miracle Child


	2. The Sporty Eldest Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From introducing Beck and Dr. White, to moving right along into the Mighty Numbers themselves! Beck might be afraid of all of those weirdos trying to meet him all at once, but surely being introduced to them one by one might work out better.

URrrrrrgh….. Honestly… Pulling up these blueprints is such a damnable chore, I must’ve looked at these schematics hundreds of times and I still can’t figure out what exactly must have went wrong… There must be a problem with Beck’s personality processors. But no matter how much I look it over it all looks perfect. None of the data I’m picking up explains why Beck would be… as timid as a freaking RABBIT…

MMMMMNNNGH… Maybe I should… I should just take a step back. Go over the process to which Mighty No 9 went through to be created in his current state, try to figure out what went wrong with the process and where in the experience I’ve had in the past the whole thing must have gone wrong….

End Transmission.

Open up ‘Mighty Numbers in Review’ audio logs.

\------------------------------------------------------------

‘Mighty Numbers in Review’ Audio Log,

Audio record #1,

Log date… June 28th 20XX.

It has been a number of years since I left the Cherrydyne labs and struck out on my own to create my own passion projects. It’s amazing how vividly I still remember first meeting Soichiro Sanda and being happily employed by him into the Sanda Technologies laboratory, settling into the labs, creating a few base robots such as the Patch line. Around the same time as my employment, Gregory Graham was named the new CEO of Cherrdyne Labs after the arrest of Dr. Blackwell for acts of terrorism. When he did, he reopened the Battle Colosseum and promised Grant money to any robotics firms that managed to win the first new tournament since Blackwell’s arrest.

It was the perfect opportunity to get the creative gears working again, so I set to work creating a robot specifically designed to win the tournament and gain Sanda Technologies the grant money I would need to continue on with new projects… But more then that, I knew that it wasn’t just power I needed, it was also marketability, a robot that would not only win the Battle Colosseum’s fights but would also win the hearts and minds of the people in the stands watching the matches ongoing.

To that, I recalled old memories I had of my childhood, when I would sometimes watch sports on my family TV. Football, Wrestling, Baseball, the works. Sports turned out to not really be my thing going into adulthood, but I still remember being enamored by the sports superstars of my childhood. All that remained was creating something recognizable, something that would stick out. Something that had a certain Wow factor. And yet, it had to be something remarkably simple given the budget I had to work with at the time.

In the end, I created a simple robotic outline, covering every inch of his torso, arms and legs with Gas burners, even adding a few atop his head that would simulate the appearance of fiery hair. Sanda was initially hesitant with the design but when it was finally finished, I swore his face lit up like the Fourth of July. That was when I KNEW I had a winner on my hands.

… Perhaps too much of a winner. When Mighty No 1. Pyrogen, AKA Pyro, joined the Battle Colosseum circuit, he became a big deal, an utter hit. With his pronounced Wrestling moves and his ability to combust and detonate on a whim without compromising his frame in the slightest, he had become an over night sensation. Everybody everywhere knew who he was within the span of a week and eagerly awaited what Sanda Technologies might create next…. And that DEFINITELY gained Gregory Graham’s attention, which is not really something I needed at the moment.

Well, whatever the case might be, Pyro certainly brought in the grant money, and that was all I needed him for in the end. Still, I made sure to keep him in good condition, after all.

Everyone still loves their ‘Hotrod Hulk’.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

A week had passed since Pyrogen had met the latest in their line of Mighty Numbers, Number 9 as he had understood… But it hadn’t been the first time he’d been made aware of the robot known as Beck’s existence.

In truth, Pyrogen and the others had known about it for a while thanks to official word from both Brandish and Countershade, the two not really knowing MUCH, but definitely noticing that Professor White had high hopes for this newest project. Probably far higher hopes in any robot up to this point. Honestly, many might THINK Pyro would have been a good robot to ask if that comparison was accurate, but really, he actually wasn’t. He’d always been too busy dominating the field in the Battle Colosseum to actually notice anything about his creator in regards to his creations.

He existed. And he existed to win. That was all Pyro really needed.

….. Then this robot came in. Beck. Mighty Number 9. He took one look at all of them, screamed his mechanical lungs out and ran from the room in terror.

And that… That was something Pyrogen wasn’t used to. Not after he’d actually obtained fan letters from the people that loved his performances on the field, not after he’d grown so used to the cheers of people both near and far. To this robot used to the attention, entities that weren’t opponents in the arena had no reason to run away from him, and this was something that needed to be corrected.

So, when next he had a chance, in the break time periods of the Colosseum to allow Robots the chance to repair and upgrade themselves, Pyrogen sought out Beck at Sanda Technologies and eventually found him in White’s Lab-

“Oh! Hello Professor! It’s nice t-” Beck had clearly been expecting Professor White to walk into the lab, only to be greeted by Pyrogen, out of his fire armor, showing his gas burner lined exoskeleton. “Huh-? Who are-” Beck was initially confused at the new arrival before finally noticing his face. Realizing he KNEW that intimidating face from somewhere…. And when realization hit it hit hard. “……………… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The robot scrambled about the room, searching for something to hide behind but finding a whole lot of nothing to do so. Eventually, Beck settled for hiding behind the skinny lining of his table, which did absolutely nothing to shield him from Pyro’s gaze.

…. Timid little thing wasn’t he?

“Kid, I’m not here to hurt you.” Came Pyrogen’s somewhat deep voice from the doorway, the robot making his way in. “Trust me, if I were? You’d be hurtin’ already.”

“Y-You’re just saying that..!” Beck shouted back from his rather flimsy excuse for cover.

… That kind of got to Pyrogen, his confusion only mounting. “But… I’m not even wearing the Fire Armor.”

“Still scary!”

……… Things were silent for a moment, Pyrogen trying to work out how best to approach this situation. If there was one thing White designed him to do, it was to also be a problem solver. After all, there were just as many times out in the arena where knowing where and WHEN to explode for maximum damage, was just as important as exploding in the first place… This was going SLIGHTLY out of his comfort zone, but there was a… SLIGHTLY similar logic to this.

However, as much as Pyrogen’s mind did the rounds, no real answer came to mind. He had been given several thousand routines related to battle, to sport, to celebrity status, but absolutely none of that looped back around to how he should treat the little robot hiding from him behind the table.

…….. It was… Actually sort of a humbling experience…

One Pyrogen was not a fan of.

“Well… Gosh… How do you want me to prove I’m not scary?” Came a slightly bashful question from the taller Gas-lighter robot, catching the attention of Beck. “Cause, I’m gonna be honest kid I’m… Kinda drawing a blank here….”

….. Beck peeked out from behind the table to take in the taller robot for a brief moment. “P-Prove it-?” That…. That stuck with Beck. After all, Monsters weren’t really things that wanted to prove they weren’t scary were they-? …. He remained behind the table, but at least stood back up, placing his arms atop the table as if to lounge on it, and yet he was still hiding his face, as if still ready to run at a moment’s notice. “Well…. I don’t actually know either… It’s kinda weird though… I apparently have this dictionary in my head, but none of that is helping me….”

…. That… Caused Pyrogen to do something. Something he had been designed to do in such cases where he met hyped up fans, met with reporters who asked strange questions, or any other such instances where he was met with a lack of verbal response.

He chuckles, awkwardly, uncertainly. “You’re a strange one. You really are.”

It was one of his pre-recorded responses to fans, but for… WHATEVER reason, he felt it fit here.

Beck is initially caught off guard by the chuckle, before the apparently infectious notion causes him to chuckle too. “…… You know… Now that I look at you closer… You… Don’t really look all that scary.” Beck’s smile becomes equally infectious. He’s no longer hiding himself quite as much as his head raises up from behind his arms to more prominently show that innocent face. “You’re big and tall sure, but you’re also gangly. What is it you do for the Professor?”

Pyrogen chuckles some more as he sits himself down on the lab floor, taking in Beck from behind the table. “Oh. You know. The typical stuff.” At Beck’s questioning look, Pyrogen realizes he must be more specific for this newer model. So he does as such. “Winning tournaments, fighting against other robots, earning respect from every major competitor from here ta Bejing.” The fire robot winks, another preprogrammed thing he knows to do to appeal to the reporters. “But hey, while it might not be pretty work, it’s good hard work. And thanks to me, the Professor has the money he needs to make more robots, just like me and just like you.”

…….. Beck’s expression had gone from confusion to wonder. Even awe. “Wow…. So… You… You almost carry this entire lab on your back then!”

…. The metaphor briefly flies over Pyrogen’s head before it circles back and he allows it to absorb into his mind. Mighty #1 then runs the saying through everything he knows about sports talk before he comes across a fitting comparison; ‘Carry the Team’ it’s called, when an important and highly talented player helps carry a team to victory.

…. “Huh…” He smiles. “…. You know when you put it that way… I guess I do.” He sits up a bit taller, his smile looking the tiniest bit more genuine.

At the expression, Beck’s eyes widen and he looks down, expression bashful. “Jeeze… Now I really feel like a jerk….”

“Ah, don’t worry about it kid. I know me and the other Mighty Numbers can be hard ta take in all at once.” He points to himself. “But hey, if you ever need anything? Let me know alright~? I’m the oldest robot in the line and I know my stuff to boot! Let ole Pyro look after ya if you need anything.”

This causes Beck to jump a bit before looking to Pyro, nodding eagerly to him with a smile. “Y-you got it Mr. Pyro! Thanks! I really appreciate it!”

….. -? Pyrogen stops and looks at the robot oddly, causing Beck to freeze up in uncertainty. “…. Pyro?” He asks, lifting an eyebrow questionably. “My name is Pyrogen-“

“O-Oh! S-sorry… I…” Beck looks a bit confused himself. “I don’t… Really know where it came from either… It just…. Felt right you know-?”

…….. Pyrogen leans back as he considers this…. Then he smiles simply. “… Pyro… An abbreviation of my name…. You know something? I like it~. Go ahead and keep using it kid. I don’t mind.” That seems to put the tiny robot at ease, letting out a breath in relief.

With that said, something seems to come to mind. Beck circles around the table and looks up to Pyro curiously. “Hey! You said I could ask questions right? Do you think I could ask you a couple more questions?”

Pyro’s response is to shrug simply looking pleased as punch. “Sure~. I’ve got time.”

\---------------------------------------------------------  
Project Synergy Audio Log

Entry #2

Log Date…….. June 28th 20XX

I came back from my lunch break today to find Beck interacting with Mighty #1; codename Pyrogen. It was a fairly random conversation that seemed to relate to some degree to the colosseum and some of the stuff Number 1 does within. It sounded like I walked in during a retelling of his latest match up in the arena, the winnings of which had been intrusted to Professor Sanda for his next project; his own attempt to craft a robot in a similar style to myself. Supposedly she would be for housekeeping and data collection purposes, which should be useful in it’s own way to my own research.

Still, back on topic, as one might be able to guess, this sight was not something I was expecting to come across, especially not after Beck’s initial reaction to his first meeting with the Mighty Numbers. More and more this little robot is proving to be a substantial annoyance… Still… I suppose at the very least what I have seen is, in fact, progress. When I had asked Pyrogen to take his leave so I could continue running diagnostics on Beck, Beck initially seemed a bit disappointed that he had to go. I suppose this could mean that I won’t have to worry about Beck being skittish around him in the future.

With that being said however, it is now time to continue running my diagnostics on Beck and attempt to puzzle out where in his personality systems Timidity might have originated from…

\---------------------------------------------------------

Mighty Numbers in Review Audio Log

Entry #2

Log Date….. June 30th 20XX

The Strangest thing just happened today while I was continuing to run diagnostics on Beck…

As part of the tests, I downloaded a few basic chore programs into Beck’s memory bank, so I could see how he operates outside of my close observation (at least as far as he knows). Today I decided to entrust him with dusting around the Lab’s archive room so that we can keep everything cleaned up and ready to reference at a moment’s notice….

Things were going… Passably. Beck dusted and polished as well as one might expect of a robot given the necessary knowledge to complete the task. He wasn’t doing better then robots specifically designed for the task, but he was steadily figuring out how best to do what he needed to and better ways one might go about doing it.

However, I open up THIS specific audio log as a follow up to my previous retrospective on Mighty #1 because of what happened about 5 minutes in… While Beck continued to go about his task, he was approached by Pyrogen. While the task was initially forgotten about in the talk that followed, before I could activate the intercom and chastise Beck for slacking off. Pyrogen actually picked up one of the towels and started assisting Beck in his task.

Certainly, I had to rush in since Pyrogen was not equipped for such delicate and dexterous work, but even as I chastised Beck and Pyro for the damage that had been done, it still stuck out to me how eager Number 1 had been to assist Beck at the chore… Pyrogen had never been one to put up with, as he called it, ‘boring busywork’.

And to make matters even more interesting, Beck would not stop referring to Number 1 as…. Pyro.

…… Mmmmneh…. I suppose the nickname works. Certainly a lot shorter and more concise then the other options, and I get the distinct impression I will need to reference Number 1 a lot more in future Project Synergy Audio Logs….

Still…. What could have caused this change I wonder-?


	3. The Mischievous Eldest Sister

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up doing a LOT of research on Cryosphere for this chapter both in-universe and out to find out what I should do with her... And the conclusion I ended up coming to is honestly a little bit surprising, even for me. But, eh. I've mentioned this before to a friend and it bears repeating even now; 'Don't underestimate the Wise-asses and the mischievous.' Nine times out of ten, it's a safe bet they know a LOT more then they let on….

\---------------------------------------------------------

‘Mighty Numbers in Review’ Audio Log

Entry #3

Log Date…. July 2nd 20XX.

Diagnostics ran on Mighty #1 Codename Pyrogen…. AKA Pyro, has proven to be…. Inconclusive in regards to his recent changes in demeanor and odd behavior. However, since this behavior doesn’t seem to inhibit his combative capabilities and his focus in the arena, I’ve decided to put it off for the time being. So long as Pyro continues performing to the levels expected of him, I suppose he can really act anyway he likes. It’s not like his behavior of late is malevolent in any fashion…

As for Beck however, his problems continue to persist and his timidity is an issue that continues to grate on my nerves…..

….. Still… I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh with him in that regards. It all reminds me quite a bit of the day when we first activated Mighty Number 2 Codename Cryosphere.

Ah, Cryosphere. THAT was a project and a half. I remember the basic premise of the idea fairly well; the project was to craft a robot that could serve as a mascot to what I was clearly trying to make a series. At that point, the concept of the Mighty Numbers was still in it’s prelude stages as only Pyro was active. To capture the attention and high hopes of the Sanda Labs board of directors. Soichiro suggested my next robot to be a mascot for the Mighty Numbers, something that could be useful to modern society and yet something that showcases yet untapped potential.

Many potential design ideas came and went, and, for a little while, I had the same amount of trouble with the design as I did with initially with Pyro. However, one day as I was watching the news, an idea came to me as I watched a team of firefighters attempting to put out a fire halfway across the country. A wild fire more specifically. A fire so hot that large amounts of water will usually vaporize before it can even touch it… From there, the idea started as a Water Pump droid that didn’t JUST fire off water. It could also transform the water it fired off into ice using a specialized mixture of specialized pipe work within the robot and Liquid Nitrogen. A fire fighting droid that could double as a flash freezer, which has a few distinct uses… But the problem still remained that I needed a design that would endear her to the board of directors.

Initially, I considered making Cryosphere more feminine, but then I decided that perhaps that sort of endearment was cheap and would ultimately reflect poorly on my own tastes as a creator…. But then, during a walk across town, I happened across a TV in an electronics outlet store playing an episode of a particular TV Show for kids. I didn’t really understand the full scope of it, but the episode’s plot in itself seemed to center around the main character being transformed into a baby…. …. The couple of children that had been watching the show seemed enthralled, so perhaps that was as good an angle as any.

And thus, Cryosphere was born, her designs were finalized, adding in a specialized armor to protect her from extreme temperatures, her form was created, the board was pleased with the concept and the design….

….. Then Sanda mentioned a dumb ice pun in front of her and she hasn’t stopped driving me up the wall since…

\---------------------------------------------------------

SLIP!!

“EEK-!! AAAGH- AAA-AA-AA-AA-AA-AA-!!!” Beck is quick to stomp his feet and freeze in place after a couple of seconds of desperately flailing. The floor all around him was frozen solid and he appeared to be trapped in the middle of it with absolutely no way to escape.

“I had the BEST Ice pun to tell ya a second ago~….”

Beck jumps, has to slip about again a little before regaining his balance… Then looks over his shoulder.

A tiny and somewhat round little figure slips and slides past him, showing an amazing sense of balance before using the somewhat sharp corners of her feet to dig into the ice and make her stop right in front of Beck. “But it SLIPPED MY MIND~! Hehehehe~! Hello there Number 9~. Or should I call ya Beck~? That’s what the doctor wants ta call ya after all.”

Beck’s reaction, of course, was blind panic. “Oh no not another one-!!” He wants to start running but given he’s completely surrounded on all sides by ice, the question remained where he could safely run TO.

“Yeeeeaaaaah, sorry about that. I knew you’d have ‘Cold Feet’ if you saw me again, snow I decided to chill your feet out ahead of time~!” She giggles at her clever word play before slipping over closer to him. “After all, it’s not every day someone takes one look at me and then runs the other way screaming… It’s… Kinda weird honestly. Disconcerting ya know?” The pacifier like item in her mouth moved about but Beck could tell she was smiling. “After all! I’m snow used to being the robot everyone likes! So I figured, why not ‘break the ice~?’ Just you and me. What do you think?”

……………

The laws of robotics on this matter were fairly clear. Law number 3 indicated that robots needed to ensure it protected it’s own existence. So on this matter, even though Beck was terrified out of his mind, the younger robot shivers nervously. “Wh-what do you want me to do?”

“Well… If I ‘break this ice’, hehe get it? Anyway, if I melt this ice, you gotta promise not to run away from me.” She twirls away, clearly still smiling and looking pleased at herself for her plan. “By the time I get done with this little heart to heart, you’ll be happy to say ‘it was ice to meet you~!’”

‘This robot is completely out of her mind.’ Was the terrified Beck’s thoughts as he stiffly nods to her.

A motion that doesn’t seem to register to Cryosphere who seems pleased by it instead. “Cool~! Now hold still!”

One quick turn of the faucet on her head later and the water that burst out was warm water… It took a little while, but eventually the ice on the floor melted away into copious amounts of steam. “There we go! Looks like the ice had to ‘Let off some steam~’ hahahaha~!” And with that Cryosphere motioned for Beck to follow her. The shivering and quivering robot follows after her.

\---------------------------------------------------------

A short walk later and Beck and Cryosphere arrive at one of the many rooms of Sanda Technologies. Within, Beck is…. Somewhat awed at what he’s seeing.

The room looks like another spare laboratory, one that had been used, according to his built in encyclopedia and scanners, for researching the usage of Liquid Nitrogen within robotics. There was a table where a robot had been designed by the looks of things, though the table looked as if it hadn’t been occupied for a good long while…

But perhaps most important? It was the fact that most of the room was completely frozen solid. The clinical white with sleek blue outlines that was a prominent theme in all of the rooms of Sanda Technologies was covered with a thick amount of ice that coated most of the room, with light amounts of snow here and there.

“This is the lab I was made in!” Number 2 pronounced as she bounced up and down. “If you look around carefully, you can still see all the flash freezes of brilliance that made me the cute little popsicle I am today~!”

Beck has to carefully manuever about the ice before finding himself at, what was no doubt, White’s old work desk before it was frozen solid. It was a covered with a myriad of photos seemingly depicting Doctor White with a small collection of people Beck didn’t recognize, accompanied by the robot he was now in the room with. Another one featured Cryosphere with a collection of children, using what looked like a snow blower feature to their great and giddy glee… It… Was an odd image for Beck to take in considering the robot he was looking at now was….

Well…. Maybe not terrifying, but at least somewhat strange…

Beck picks up the photo and looks it over.

“Oh-ho~! I see you’ve not-iced one of my best moments~!” Cryosphere skates over before jumping onto the desk with a giddy grin. “That day was a lot of fun~. Good ole Doctor White as Snow officially debuted me to the public. The adults thought I was a cute lil right away, though the kids, kinda like you, were a little tougher to sell.” She motions around, spinning on a single foot. “So I decided to show them how much fun I could be! It was a hot summer day outside, so I used my functions as a water pump, mixed it with my inner stores of insta-ice and presto! I was blowing snow all over the place! By the time I was finished, the festivities had enough snow for kids to play in, making snow-men, snow-balls all kinds of fun things!”

….. The robot lightly droops a little bit. “The Doctor wasn’t too happy with my spur of the moment decision, and the adults were a LITTLE panicked…” … Before she lifts her head again, having a big bright smile on her face. “But things got snow much better when the kids started playing around in the flurry I made~. Snowballs were flying around before you know it and by the time the day ended, Sanda Technologies had ALL kinds of Snowmen decorating it’s front lawn~.”

….. Beck puts down the photo, deciding to focus on the robot before him. “….. You…. Are kind of scary still-“

THWUMP!! Cryosphere flops onto the ground in exasperation. She’s JUUUUST about to tear into Beck, when he follows with the following;

“But…. You seem really nice.” Beck’s smile is genuine and innocent as he helps Cryosphere back on her feet. At the very least, it seemed to silence any protests. “So… What does this mean though? I mean…. I kinda got what Pyro was made for, but I’m not sure what you were made for…” Cryosphere looks at him oddly, before Beck shrugs, clearly clueless.

“Sweet Xels you really DON’T get it… Jeeze Beck were you created under a rock? Even a kid can get what it ice I do!” Beck meanwhile just gives her a questioning look, prompting her to let out a sigh… Alright, she supposed he was serious… “Well…. Let’s see…. Basically, I was created to help people feel good.”

“Feel good-?”

“Yeah! Feel good!” Cryosphere points to him the smile behind the mask clearly growing. “Pyrogen, Brandish and Shade’s all about supporting the lab by winning money at the Arena, Dynatron helps out at the City’s Power plant, Aviator lends out his services as an eye in the sky. Seismic and Battalion help out with construction. And me?” She stands up a little taller. “Well, you have knowledge about old sayings right? What do you know about the saying ‘All Work and no Play makes Jack a dull boy?’”

….. Curious, Beck searches for the saying in his dictionary and does eventually come across it. According to the description…. “It’s a saying that means you shouldn’t overwork yourself doesn’t it?”

“OKAY SURE,” She pelts him on the nose with her nozzle. “That’s the CLINICAL AND BORING answer to it. But tell me something, what does it really MEAN?” Beck clearly is a little intimidated by Cryosphere’s sudden stern tone, so the robot dials it back a little. “All we Mighty Numbers ever do is work work work, all day long! We start the days cool as ice and slowly melt away under the hot sun. And sure, that’s good, that means we’re doing what we’re created for… But here’s what I think about the whole thing.” The smile on her face is a big one as she wiggles her nozzle hand back and forth like it’s an index finger. “If you leave the Mighty Numbers on their own, they get too serious, too stiff, too razor focused. Sure that’s good and all, but going out onto the job RELAXED can be just as important. When you’re relaxed, you’re at ease. You can read a situation in a brand new way you might not have considered before.”

…. Beck considers this as Cryosphere finishes. “In short… If you’re relaxed going into work? Then it doesn’t FEEL like work. It feels like something you can actually enjoy doing. And when you enjoy doing it the work becomes easier. It’s like lifting a load from someone’s shoulders. THAT’S what it means when I make people feel good~.”

….. It’s a surge of data to be sure, something Beck is not really in a good position to sort through in his own time at that moment…. And yet he feels like he’d learned something… Profound. He’d need to go over the data again carefully when he got the chance. “….. Hmmm….. I….. I think I get it…”

Still… From what little he could parse and make sense from the talk? … Beck had to admit, he may have misjudged this one… And Underestimated as well.

“…. How are you so smart?” Beck asked, sitting down on the ice and looking up to the short and squat robot sitting on the desk. “You… Look younger then me.”

Cryosphere shrugs a little, looking annoyed but content. “Eh, I have to blame the Professor for that. When he created me, he wanted me to be cute. And cute won’t reflect my age… As for my age? Well don’t you forget this Beck-cycle~.” She motions to herself with a grin. “I’m a whole 7 Numbers older then you! So being smarter just comes with the territory~.” …. Yet another thing Beck hadn’t even considered… “And if you should ever need help? You can come straight to me! Good ole Cryo will look after you!”

\----------------------------------------------------------

He was such a simple little thing… She wondered if she was this naïve when she first activated… Perhaps she was, given how impulsive the professor claimed she had been. It was something she had come to pride herself in given how well it ended up working out. That first day. That debut? That flurry outside of Sanda Technologies? It taught her a lot.

And yet…. In the presence of this robot, she still felt like she was learning.

“Wow… 7 whole numbers?”

“Well of course! Ice *AM* Mighty Number 2~.” Cryo states with a giggle. She had to admit, this little runt was quite cute. “And due to this, I expect at least an icy sheen of respect, runt~. After all, I’m your ‘Cool’ older sister!” Beck nods simply. And the notion almost seems to heal Cryo’s spirit a little.

She had to admit, she didn’t INITIALLY take the news of no more female Mighty Numbers well. After all, the closest thing she had to a little sister was Dynatron, and she wasn’t younger then Cryo by MUCH… Worse then that was Dynatron’s…. Personality issues.

So coming in to introduce herself to Beck, Cryo was almost ready to mark him off as another dumb guy in the Numbers…

“Older sister…”

….Only to find herself surprised by what she found instead. Beck wasn’t like the other guys… He was… different somehow…..

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Project Synergy Audio Log

Entry #3

Log Date…….. July 4th 20XX

Beck did not arrive at my lab for daily inspections today, forcing me to resort to the labs security cameras to determine his whereabouts. After some searching, I eventually did find him in Mighty Number 2, Codename Cryosphere’s, room… It was an interesting thing to take in since it seemed just about the same as what I had seen from his interactions with Pyro. Though knowing Cryo, I’m fairly certain she is the one that arranged this meeting (whereas Pyro appeared to seek out Beck, not expecting to find him).

In all honesty, I’m not too surprised with strange behavior when it comes to Cryosphere, given she was crafted partially thanks to Doctor Sanda and given the personality of a child… But what strikes me watching that conversation pan out is seeing Cryo almost acting more like a voice of authority then the trouble maker we’ve all known her as for so long… Perhaps she feels something different about him….

It wouldn’t be the first time she’s felt something different about one of the other Mighty Numbers. I still remember fairly clearly how she reacted to first meeting Mighty Number 3, Codename Dynatron….


End file.
